Citizen Tom

This is the final installment on a four-part essay that examines why conservatives have trouble getting elected and remaining true to their conservative principles. Here are the four parts:

• Societal Succession and the Loss of Frontier Virtues
• The Organized Political Constituency
• The Politician’s Dilemma
• Pivotal Role of Baby Boomers

In the previous three parts, we looked for the root causes of a seemingly insolvable problem, the slow drift of our society to a socialism. In the first part we saw how societies change as people adapt to their changing circumstances. Thus urbanization necessitates a greater role for government. Then, in the second part, we saw how, when organized political constituencies begin fighting for government influence and revenues, the growth of government becomes self-reinforcing. In the third part, we changed our point of view to that of the politician, and we discovered the politician’s predicament. When the People themselves choose to vote for their own self interests, how can a leader choose serve the overall good of the nation and still get elected?

In this, the final part of this four-part essay, we will examine that portion of the electorate to which I belong, the Baby Boom Generation. As this generation strengthens its grasp on the reins of power, we will try to determine whether there is any cause for hope.

Unless you have some hope that you can find a solution, there is little point in carefully defining a problem. All you can do with a problem that you cannot solve is to accept it and do your best to work around it. Fortunately, I believe there is hope that we can reverse the trend towards socialism. Thus this post focuses on the solution, and we will consider the following questions:

• What are traditional American values?
• What features distinguish the Baby Boom Generation?
• What role the Baby Boomers should play in American politics?

What are traditional American values?

American conservatism is about the defense of traditional American values. What are these values. If you google the phrase “traditional American values,” you will get over a hundred thousand hits. In this case, due to information overload, an Internet search is almost useless. It would appear that many diverse groups want to sanctify their cause(s) as a traditional American value. In The Nation, George Lakoff will tell you the following about values:

We are the 55 million progressives who came together in this election, voted for Kerry and rejected the Bush agenda.

We came together because of our moral values: care and responsibility, fairness and equality, freedom and courage, fulfillment in life, opportunity and community, cooperation and trust, honesty and openness. We united behind political principles: equality, equity (if you work for a living, you should earn a living) and government for the people–all the people.

These are traditional American values and principles, what we are proudest of in this country. The Democrats’ failure was a failure to put forth our moral vision, celebrate our values and principles, and shout them out loud.

On the other hand, The Traditional Values Coalition sums up traditional values this way:

Traditional Values are based upon biblical foundations and upon the principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, the writings of the Founding Fathers, and upon the writings of great political and religious thinkers throughout the ages.

President George Washington, in his Farewell Address in 1796, said that popular government cannot exist without morality—and morality based upon biblical principles. In effect, he defined traditional values in these words:

Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports….And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. – Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure—reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

In short, Bible-based traditional values are what created and what have preserved our nation. We will lose our freedoms if we reject these values.

Many in the Democratic Party react in horror to traditional values as defined by The Traditional Values Coalition. Consider this excerpt from The Democratic Party’s web site.

Those on the “right” label themselves as being of traditional values, but I challenge them on that. For the believer in traditional American values would never dream of imposing their religious beliefs on their fellow citizens, nor make it a requirement to hold elected or public office. The Constitution of the United States is quite clear on this “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” (Article 6, section 3). Nothing could be more clear than this, yet now we are repeatedly subjected to our political leaders ramblings about their faith and belief in god, no matter which side of the political divide they sit. It is time for those who truly believe in the work of the founding fathers to reclaim the mantle of traditional values, Traditional American Values. The belief that one’s religious beliefs (or lack of) are a private matters having no place in the public square.

Whatever one believes about traditional American values, it seems that these values are universally regarded as a good thing. Unfortunately, there is much disagreement as to what constitutes traditional American values.

I can only speak for myself and observe a few facts. At the time of its formation, the people of the United States were Christians. So arguably, Christian values must have played a role in our nation’s formation. I believe Christianity played a critical role. When the government of the United States was formed, freedom of religious belief was a unique feature. In 1776 America, the highly literate population understood that Christ did not approve of government being used to establish a religion.

Americans also believed in hard work and service to others. We are still nation that believes in in honest day’s work for honest day’s pay, and we respect volunteers. The modern volunteer military is perhaps the community that most cherishes and exemplifies traditional American values. The military sums these values up its values three words: duty, honor, and country. In 1962, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur explained these values in a speech to the cadets of the U.S. Military Academy. This speech is worth reading.

What features distinguish the Baby Boom Generation?

Various things can affect the course of history. A natural event such as a volcanic eruption can destroy a civilization, and such may have happened to that legend we now call Atlantis. A new invention can so radically alter the economy that it leads to war. Thus some blame the cotton gin for the Civil War. One man’s ideas about salvation can sweep across a continent and put men at odds with each other, and that happened when Martin Luther began the Protestant Revolution.

The baby boom that followed World War II is perhaps best categorized as natural event that produced an exceptionally large number of children in a prosperous time. This huge population bulge has vast economic implications. For example, as the Boomer population has aged, our society has experienced labor imbalances. When Boomers were young, we had a surplus of inexperienced labor. Now as Boomers have become experienced workers, we have a shortage of unskilled labor. Coincidentally, the Vietnam War helped to absorb the surplus of unskilled labor when Boomers were young. Now to make up for the shortage of unskilled workers, our industries are importing illegal aliens. Undoubtedly, some hope these same illegal aliens will support the Baby Boomers into retirement.

According to Wikipedia, the Baby Boomers were born in the years from 1945 to 1964, and Boomers account for about 39 percent of Americans over the age of 18 and 29 percent of the total population. Baby Boomers represent a relatively wealthy and well educated group. According to most of the material available on the Internet, most Boomers will exceed their parents living standards in retirement. For example, see this GAO report.

Like any other age cohort, the Baby Boomers have had shared experiences. Boomers grew up during the Cold War, the beginning of the Space Age, and during the Information Age. They witnessed the President Kennedy’s assassination and participated in America’s humiliating loss in Vietnam. They grooved to the same music, and they listened to the same television shows. And Boomers came away with different political philosophies.

The Baby Boomers are not a politically cohesive group (see here). Their reactions, for example, to the Vietnam War varied considerably. Some demonstrated ferociously against the war, and some accepted the draft and served ably. Many of those who demonstrated against the war remember this experience with pride. Others still regard such behavior as tantamount to treason. Thus the Baby Boom Generation is at war with itself. Yet because this generation’s size and wealth and because its members hold the reins of power, how this conflict is resolved will decide much about the future of this nation.

What role the Baby Boomers should play in American politics?

In its youth, the Baby Boom Generation had the excuse of inexperience. Now that is physically mature, this generation has one last opportunity to grow up and behave as adults should. Consider how Abraham Maslow defined growing up. In his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation,” Maslow defined a Hierarchy of Needs. Here are the characteristics Maslow ascribed to a mature human beings.

• They embrace the facts and realities of the world (including themselves) rather than denying or avoiding them.
• They are spontaneous in their ideas and actions.
• They are creative.
• They are interested in solving problems; this often includes the problems of others. Solving these problems is often a key focus in their lives.
• They feel a closeness to other people, and generally appreciate life.
• They have a system of morality that is fully internalized and independent of external authority.
• They judge others without prejudice, in a way that can be termed objective.

It is rare person that succeeds in combining all these characteristics. I think the popular term for such a person is “saint.” To be good requires more self-discipline than any human being can achieve on his own. We achieve self-discipline only when we accept the need for discipline. If a saint succeeds, it is because he has turned to God for support. When he finally realizes nothing else will do, a saint accepts the need for God’s discipline.

As the Baby Boomers reach their senior years, it my hope that they will stop looking for themselves and start looking for God. I hope that many will find God in the Bible and in churches across the country. Nonetheless, I don’t expect that all these people will become conservative Republicans. When I do hope, however, is that most of these people will take to heart President John F. Kennedy’s famous quote.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963), Inaugural address, January 20, 1961